A Romantic Weekend in Småland – 11 Tips
Forest romance, time for two, and a couple of days away from everyday life
What really makes a weekend romantic? Rose petals on the bed, sparkling champagne, or a dinner for two at a really nice restaurant? Or maybe something much simpler: getting away together, leaving everyday life behind, and spending a couple of days with plenty of time for each other?
At Smålandstorpet, you’ll stay in a private cottage for two, surrounded by forests, lakes, and Småland’s gravel roads. Here, we have our own brand of forest romance—simpler, more peaceful, and far from contrived. For those longing for a romantic weekend in Småland, we’ve put together eleven of our best tips for a weekend together.
1. Start your weekend on the way here
A weekend doesn't have to start the moment you arrive at your destination. Make the drive here part of the weekend. Share a bag of your favorite candy, stop and grab two cups of coffee, and listen to some relaxing music together.
We’ve put together our own playlist for the trip to Smålandstorpet, dinner, and the quiet evenings at the house. It starts, of course, with the “Småland Song” and continues with a mix of Småland, Swedish, Nordic, and classical tunes. You can find the playlist here. Maybe one of the songs will be forever associated with this particular weekend?
2. Live in a house you'll remember
There’s something romantic about stepping away from the big world and focusing solely on the small one. At Smålandstorpet, you don’t stay in a hotel room with guests on the other side of the wall—you get an entire house to yourselves.
Our three houses are all different, but what they have in common is that we’ve decorated them ourselves with care. We want the houses to be as beautiful on the inside as they are cozy, comfortable, and welcoming. Here, there’s room for leisurely breakfasts, dinners for two, and evenings when you don’t have to go anywhere at all.
Outside, the forest, the trails, and the lakes await. When darkness falls and the lights come on inside the house, everyday life feels far away. There are no streetlights or illuminated neighboring houses outside the window—just the darkness and the forest.
3. Cook dinner together
Cooking can actually be one of the coziest moments of the weekend. Pick up some delicious ingredients at the nearby ICA in Vaggeryd or at one of the local farm shops, such as Hagshultskossornas Kopensionat. Put on some music and cook dinner together in your own kitchen. Choose something simple but that still takes a little time—maybe a creamy mushroom risotto, a tasty pasta dish, or something else you both enjoy.
Here, you don't have to worry about a restaurant reservation and can stay at the table and chat for as long as you like. Set a nice table for two and let dinner be part of the evening.
Dessert doesn't have to be complicated. Pick up a Småland cheesecake and serve it warm with jam and whipped cream—simple, delicious, and a little taste of Småland. If you'd like to make something more classically romantic, you can make chocolate mousse or our personal favorite, lingonberry mousse. You'll find the recipe here.
It doesn't have to be healthy. After all, you're on vacation.
4. Make your sauna night the highlight of the weekend
Our wood-fired sauna by the lake is something many of our guests particularly enjoy during their stay. For many, spending a couple of hours here in the evening is one of the highlights of the weekend.
The sauna is tucked away by our little beach and dock. When dusk begins to fall and the lake and forest grow dark outside, the world feels quite small for a moment. Here, it’s just the two of you and the crackling fire in the sauna. Take a dip from the dock if you’d like—in the winter, we can cut a hole in the ice when conditions allow.
Then slip into your bathrobes and stay by the lake for a while before heading back to the house.
5. Explore the forest after dark
The forest changes completely once darkness falls. Borrow some headlamps and go for a short evening walk together. Follow the gravel road or one of the trails and listen to how different the forest sounds when you can no longer see very far ahead.
Stop somewhere along the way and turn off your headlamps for a moment. When there are no streetlights or city lights around you, the darkness becomes truly dark. And if the sky is clear, don’t forget to look up—out here, the starry sky looks completely different than it does in the city.
6. Take a snack out into the woods
Romance doesn’t have to be very complicated. You can borrow a backpack, a thermos, and a picnic mat from the house. Make some coffee or hot chocolate, bring along something tasty to eat—maybe something you bought at Vaggeryds Gårdscafé—and head out into the woods to find a spot where you’d like to stay.
You don't have to go far. There's something special about having coffee together out in the woods. In the fall, the ground might be covered with leaves; in the winter, the woods might be white and completely silent; and in the spring and summer, you can stop almost anywhere and sit down for a while.
7. Go on a photo walk together
We often take photos of the places we visit but easily forget to take photos of each other. Take a walk in the woods and take turns behind the camera. Find a beautiful forest path, an old, moss-covered stone wall, or just a spot where the light is nice—and remember to take a few photos together, too.
8. Have an evening with absolutely no plans
After a visit to the sauna and dinner, you might not need to do much else. Put on your bathrobe, grab some chocolate, and stream a movie you’ve been wanting to see for a long time on the tablet you brought along. There’s fiber-optic Wi-Fi here, so a rainy evening really doesn’t have to be a problem.
Or forget about the movie. Play some cards, put on some music, and let the evening last longer than it usually does at home. It’s dark and quiet outside, and you don’t have to go anywhere.
9. Treat yourself to a lie-in
Sleep in and take your time in the morning. Order breakfast to be delivered to your room, featuring homemade bread, yogurt and muesli, hard-boiled eggs, orange juice, and coffee or tea. Or make your own breakfast and linger a while over another cup of coffee.
And no one says you have to get dressed right away. A bathrobe is perfectly fine.
10. Try Småland flavors together
If you’d like to do something a little different this weekend, you can book a tasting at Ängabackens Björksoda in Sonarp, not far from Smålandstorpet. Here, you’ll go on a guided tour and hear the story of how birch sap is transformed into the naturally sparkling beverage Björksoda. Afterward, you’ll sample different vintages paired with Småland tapas featuring flavors from the forest and countryside.
Perhaps the romance lies precisely in doing something new together—sitting down, tasting, comparing what each of you likes best, and having a little experience that’s unique to this weekend.
The tasting experience is also very much in the spirit of Småland: small-scale, local, and close to nature. It provides a nice contrast to walks in the woods, sauna sessions, and quiet evenings at the house, and afterward, you can pick up something from the farm shop if you’d like.
11. Take a little trip for two
If you’d like to leave the forest for a few hours, there’s plenty to discover nearby. On a particularly gray day, for example, you can book a day spa at the historic Hooks Herrgård by beautiful Lake Hoka and spend a few hours there before returning to your own home.
You can also visit Vandalorum in Värnamo to see art and design, have lunch, browse the museum shop, or just enjoy a cup of coffee. When the weather is nicer, you might instead take a trip to Store Mosse National Park, Tabergstoppen, or one of the area’s nature reserves.
A romantic weekend in Småland doesn’t actually need perfect weather. A breeze can make it extra nice to come inside after a walk, and a dark November evening can be just the right time for a wood-fired sauna, dinner, chocolate, and a movie. That’s perhaps one of the advantages of having an entire house to yourselves—your stay doesn’t depend on the sun shining.
What will you remember best?
It’s hard to know in advance what you’ll remember best. Maybe it’ll be the evening in the sauna, the walk through the woods with your headlamps, or the dinner you cooked together. Maybe it’ll be something much smaller—the song that played in the car, or the morning when the rain was streaming down the windows and you decided to have one more cup of coffee, even though it was already very late.
A romantic weekend doesn't have to be packed with activities. Sometimes all it takes is a house just for the two of you, the forest right outside your door, and a couple of days with more time for each other.
That's our kind of forest romance.
